I learn from teachers. I refuse to follow gurus. Modern history is replete with accounts of gurus and spiritual communities that are rife with sexual abuse; drug and alcohol abuse; extreme coercion for financial support; deference to “advanced practitioners”; and devaluation of the devotee so that they become emotionally dependent on the community and the guru. … Read More Teachers, Not Gurus
SATURDAY, DEC 27, 2014 01:00 PM AST Rebecca Solnit assesses our poisonous fossil fuel dependency — and why we’re on the verge of a paradigm shift REBECCA SOLNIT, TOMDISPATCH.COM (Credit: Tod Klassy/Shutterstock) This piece originally appeared on TomDispatch. It was the most thrilling bureaucratic document I’ve ever seen for just one reason: it was dated the… Read More Rebecca Solnit: The Age of Capitalism is over
BY JEFF SPROSS POSTED ON DECEMBER 11, 2014 AT 4:45 PM UPDATED: DECEMBER 12, 2014 AT 9:05 AM “Catholic Bishops From Every Continent Call For ‘An End To The Fossil Fuel Era’” Pope Francis and a group of bishops at the Vatican. CREDIT: AP PHOTO / ALESSANDRA TARANTINO A group of Catholic Bishops called on the world’s governments… Read More Catholic Bishops From Every Continent Call For ‘An End To The Fossil Fuel Era
I spent the weekend learning about B.R. Ambedkar. What a brilliant man and powerful advocate for social justice for the Untouchables of India, for women, for labour, and the “depressed classes” the world over. I read his treatise “The Annihilation of Caste” [which I downloaded from Verso Books for less than $3], with commentary by Arundhati… Read More Dalit Buddhist Revolution: Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, We Salute You
“A migrant worker from Dublin, Dhammaloka was an autodidact, atheist and temperance campaigner who became known throughout colonial Asia as an implacable critic of Christian missionaries and a tireless transnational organizer of Asian Buddhists from Burma to Japan and from Singapore to Siam.” THE DHARMA BUM: The Untold Story of U Dhammaloka – The… Read More The Original Dharma Bum: Irishman U Dhammaloka
The following article by David Patt is a brilliant and hard-hitting analysis of Buddhism under global capitalism. From the Buddhist point of view, even to sustain the modest goal of happiness in this world, the way of life of consumer capitalism is a self-defeating path. Consuming objects to fulfill desire can never bring lasting happiness.… Read More Global Market Buddhism: When the Commodity We Consume is Buddhism Itself
